As part of my responsibilities as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I have overarching responsibility for the terms and conditions of employment of public servants. However, specific policies relating to special leave from employment for public servants - other than civil servants - are dealt with on a sectoral basis by the appropriate responsible minister. This approach has been adopted so that any such arrangements can be designed to take account of human resource requirements in individual sectors of the public service.
The Circular referred to in the Deputy's question provides for special leave for members of the Reserve Defence Forces who are civil servants. It is a matter for other relevant Ministers to determine the arrangements for special leave for members of the Reserve Defence Force for their own sectors. In the case of the public body referred to in the Deputy's question, this is a matter to be considered by the Minister for Health.